Cup assembly

ABSTRACT

Tapered cups of foam polymeric material containing a comestible food product are provided with a cover cooperating with the interior surface of the cup. The cover has a rounded peripheral flange force-fit with the interior surface of the cup and a curved peripheral tip forming a secondary seal with the cup interior surface.

Unite iates atent Asen [ 1 June 13, 1972 CUP ASSEMBLY [72] Inventor:Donald B. Asen, Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Bev Maid, Inc., Valley Forge, Pa.

[22] Filed: April 22, 1970 v 21 App1.No.: 30,736

[52] US. Cl ..99/78, 128/222, 206/47 B,

206/56 R [51] Int. Cl. ..A23l 1/00, 865d 83/06, B65d 79/00 [58] Field ofSearch ..99/78; 206/47 B, l R, 56 R; I 128/222 56] References Cited 7UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,137,039 4/1915 Weber ..99/78UX PrimaryExaminer-M0nis O. Wolk Assistant Examiner-Barry S. RichmanAttorney-Seidel, Gonda & Goldhammer [5 7] ABSTRACT Tapered cups of foampolymeric material containing a comestible food product are providedwith a cover cooperating with the interior surface of the cup. The coverhas a rounded peripheral flange force-fit with the interior surface ofthe cup and a curved peripheral tip forming a secondary seal with thecup interior surface.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJun 13 I97? 7 3.669.001

INVENTOR 4 DONALD E. ASEN v ATTORNEVS.

CUP ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a cup assembly and moreparticularly to a tapered cup of foam polymer material adapted tocontain therewithin a comestible food product such as coffee grounds,tea grounds, soup concentrate, pharmaceutical products such as powderedheadache remedies, etc. The periphery of the cover is constructed in anovel manner so as to provide a double seal with the ID. of the foam cupand rigidify the cup, so as to materially reduce the tendency of the cupto deform when held by finger pressure. The rigidifying of the cupmaterially facilitates the ease of handling of the cup and reduces thetendency of spilling some of the contents of the cup. The periphery ofthe cover is rigidified by the nature of its constructionwhereby acircular base is provided with a downwardly extending flange connectedto a horizontally radially outwardly extending flange. The periphery ofthe radially outwardly extending flange is provided with an outwardlyand inwardly extending curved flange adapted to form a dent on theInterior surface of the foam polymeric cup. The upper end of the curvedinwardly extending flange merges into a curved outwardly extendingflange which in turn merges into a feathered outwardly extending tip.The tip and last-mentioned curved portion are flexed inwardly when thecover is inserted into-the cup and form a secondary seal above thelocation when the cup is dented by the first-mentioned upwardly inwardlyextending curved flange.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel cup assemblycomprising a tapered cup of foam polymeric material with a covertherewithin.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel cupassembly wherein a foam polymeric cup containing a comestible foodproduct includes a rigidifying cover overlyingthe food product.

'It is another object of the present invention to provide a cup assemblywhereby tapered cups of foam polymeric material are rigidified by acover above a comestible food product in the cup.

i It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel cupassembly whereby a tapered-cup of foam polymeric material is rigidificdby a cover made from an inexpensive material and in a manner which isreliable.

Other objects will appear hereinafter. For the purpose of illustratingthe invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presentlypreferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is notlimited to the.

precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

F IG. 1 is a perspective view of the cover of the cup assembly of thepresent invention.

' FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1 but onan enlarged scale.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of two cup assemblies in accordancewith the present invention telescoped or stacked one within the other.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the portions circled in phantom inFIG. 3.

Referring to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate likeelements, there is shown in FIG. 3 a pair of cup assemblies inaccordance with the present invention designated as and 12. Cup assembly10 includes a tapered wall 14 connected to a flat horizontal bottom wall16 and made from a foam polymeric material such as closed cellpolystyrene, closed cell polyurethane, etc.

Cup 12 is constructed in the same manner and includes a wall 18connected to a bottom wall 20 and made from the same material. The taper.on the walls 14 and 18 is approximately 2 but may be increased asdesired. Any one of the above-mentioned comestible food products orother comestible food products is placed within the bottom of cup 10 anddesignated in FIG. 3 as 22. A similar comestible food product is placedin the bottom cup 12 and designated as 24. The quantity of thecomestible food product will vary with the nature of the same.

' designated generally Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is illustrateda cover as '26 which has been inserted into cups l0 and 12, as shownmore clearly in FIG. 3. The cover 26 includes a circular base 28 havinga downwardly radially outwardly tapering flange 30 which merges into aradially outwardly extending horizontal flange 32. The outer peripheryof flange 32 merges into an upwardly and inwardly extending curvedflange 34. At an elevation slightly below the elevation of base 28, theupper end of curved flange 34 merges into an outwardly extending rim 36having a reverse bend feathered tip 38. The diameter of rim 36 and tip38 is greater than the diameter across the curved flange 34.

A handle 40 is integral with the cover 26 and extends horizontally froma peripheral portion of the tip 38 generaly parallel to the plane ofbase 28. The handle 40 may be manipulated so as to occupy the phantomposition shown in FIG. 1 during insertion of the cover 26 into the cupsl0 and 12. The illustrated construction of cover 26 rigidities theperiphery of the cover and lends itself to mass production by vacuumforming techniques.

The cup assembly of the present invention is utilized as follows:

The comestible food product is inserted into the tapered cup of foampolymeric material. Thereafter, the cover 26 is inserted into the cupand pressed downwardly until the curved flange 34 attains a force-fitwith the Interior surface of the cup and actually forms a dent on theInterior surface of the cup as illustrated in FIG. 4.

The insertion of the cover 26 into the cup will cause the handle 40 toassume a position along the ID. of the cup as attained between the coverand cup of the present invention is sufficiently tight so that thecomestible food products 22 and 24 may be liquid in nature.

The cover 26 may be made from a wide variety of polymeric materialsincluding polystyrene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, styrene, etc. Iprefer to make the cover 26 from polystyrene having a thickness between0.010 and 0.015 inches thick.

It is to be noted that the rim 36 and tip 38 flex inwardly when thecover 26 isinserted into the cups. Notwithstanding the material andthicknesses involved, the rim 36 and tip 38 flex outwardly into contactwith the Interior surface of the cup. The flange 34 is preferably curvedas illustrated so as to create a dent which is greater thanpointcontact.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and,accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, ratherthan to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A plastic cup assembly for comestibles comprising a cup, said cupbeing comprised of foam polymeric material and the interior surface ofsaid cup being tapered, and a cover for enclosing a portion of said cup,said cover including a circular base, a downwardly and outwardlyextending first flange supported on the periphery of said base, saidfirst flange supporting a horizontally extending second flange, a curvedvertically disposed third flange merging into said second flange, saidplace of merger being rounded, a rim, said rim being supported by saidthird flange and extending upwardly and radially outwardly, and theupper end of said rim defines a curved tip, said curved tip being at anelevation above the elevation of said circular base, said curved tip andsaid outwardly extending flange being operative to closely engage saidinterior surface, and a handle connected to said cover.

2. A plastic cup assembly in accordance with claim 1 including acomestible food product overlying the bottom of said cup, said coveroverlying the comestible food product.

3. A plastic cup assembly in accordance with claim 1 including anindentation on the interior surface of said cup, and said rounded mergerof said second and third flanges extends into said indentation.

' at a: at a: 1

2. A plastic cup assembly in accordance with claim 1 including acomestible food product overlying the bottom of said cup, said coveroverlying the comestible food product.
 3. A plastic cup assembly inaccordance with claim 1 including an indentation on the interior surfaceof said cup, and said rounded merger of said second and third flangesextends into said indentation.